*

Scant clarity as yet on US trade talks

*

Mega-cap earnings, US jobs and GDP data on tap

*

Global recession risk high due to Trump's tariffs,

economists

say

*

Canadians vote in election dominated by concerns about

Trump

(Updates to afternoon)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks turned lower on Monday, while their European

counterparts gained, and gold advanced as investors monitored

progress in tariff talks at the top of an eventful week of

corporate earnings and economic data.

Tech sector weakness, particularly in the

so-called Magnificent Seven group of artificial

intelligence-related megacaps, weighed heavily on the S&P and

Nasdaq as the session progressed, while safe-haven gold

rebounded.

"We had a nice rally last week," said Ross Mayfield,

investment strategy analyst at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.

"But in the absence of a major positive catalyst I think it's

going to be harder for equities to climb much higher from here."

Mayfield called Monday's market gyration "just a little

bit of drift, with a lack of catalysts and with a lot

concentrated in the back half of the week."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday many

top U.S. trading partners have made "very good" tariff

proposals, adding that China's recent moves to exempt certain

U.S. goods from its retaliatory tariffs showed a willingness to

de-escalate tensions between the world's two largest economies.

"We were at a point where, unless we get a major

resolution on the trade front, or big upside from some of the

economic data or earnings this week, I think we're in this

trading range that I feel we're going to be trapped in for a

while," Mayfield said.

Despite hopes for progress, economists polled by Reuters see

a high risk of global recession due to Trump's tariffs. Three

months ago, they projected the world economy growing at a

healthy clip.

First-quarter earnings season heats up this week, with Meta

Platforms ( META ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Apple ( AAPL ) and

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) among the high-profile results on the

docket.

While no U.S. economic data were released on Monday, the

week is back-end loaded with closely watched indicators such as

Personal Consumption Expenditures, the Institute for Supply

Management's purchasing managers' index, an advance take on U.S.

GDP and the April employment report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34.65

points, or 0.09%, to 40,078.85, the S&P 500 dropped 21.61

points, or 0.39%, to 5,503.37 and the Nasdaq Composite

slid 115.55 points, or 0.66%, to 17,267.39.

European shares rose as investors remained optimistic that

U.S.-China trade tensions would wane.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

rose 0.58 points, or 0.07%, to 825.29.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.53%, while

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 10.13

points, or 0.49%.

Emerging market stocks rose 6.01 points, or 0.55%,

to 1,103.11. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares

outside Japan closed higher by 0.59%, to 574.00,

while Japan's Nikkei rose 134.25 points, or 0.38%, to

35,839.99.

U.S. Treasury yields eased ahead of critical earnings and

economic data this week.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year note yield fell 4.4

basis points to 4.222%, from 4.266% late on Friday. The 30-year

bond yield dropped 4 basis points to 4.6981% from

4.738%.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in

step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve,

fell 6.9 basis points to 3.693%, from 3.762% late on Friday.

The dollar edged lower against a basket of currencies as

investors awaited further trade talks progress and girded

themselves for an eventful week.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro,

fell 0.69% to 99.05, with the euro up 0.4% at $1.1409.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 1.03%

to 142.19.

Sterling strengthened 0.8% to $1.3421.

The Mexican peso weakened 0.3% versus the dollar at

19.591.

The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.07% versus the

greenback to C$1.38 per dollar.

Canadians are going to the polls on Monday after an election

campaign in which U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and

musings about annexing Canada became the central issue.

Crude oil softened as investors weighed a potential supply

increase from OPEC+ amid ongoing trade uncertainties.

U.S. crude fell 1.54% to settle at $62.05 per

barrel, while Brent settled at $65.86 per barrel, down

1.51% on the day.

Gold prices advanced in opposition to the easing greenback

as bargain-hunting kicked in.

Spot gold rose 0.92% to $3,348.51 an ounce. U.S. gold

futures rose 0.06% to $3,284.50 an ounce.